introduction

Unless you can fly, you'll need a ladder working on a farm. Or for that matter, even in town. Ladders are just one of those items that you can't imagine forgetting in your diorama, yet up until now, they were surprisingly absent. Who wants to scratch-build something that's really just an accessory in most scenes?

Plus Model has seemed to take real delight in recreating the world in 1/35th scale, and one of their new offerings is a set of three real wood ladders. The set is in tandem with a release that has both a conventional ladder and a step-ladder (to be reviewed separately).

what you get

Inside a stiff clear plastic sleeve is a 2" x 4" (5cm x 10cm) thin piece of laser-cut wood containing 30 pieces (six ladder frames and 24 equal-length rungs).

the review

The set couldn't be simpler to use or more straightforward: after separating the parts from their wooden piece, you glue the parts together to produce three ladders of different heights:

3.75" (9.5cm)
3" (8cm)
2 3/8" (6cm)

The results can be weathered, painted or left as is. Assembly requires nothing more toxic than ordinary white glue. The parts are nicely cut and go together with a minimum of fit issues as you can see from the photos. The only caution is separating the pieces. The laser cutting is very good, and the individual parts are attached only at the ends.

But if you're not careful, you can catapult the cross bars into space with very little effort. My suggestion is to attack them with care. You can also break the wooden sheet lengthwise, thereby making each set of cross bars easier to manage.

The scale is good, though the cross bars are set into the ladder frame vertically, so the end result is something that looks less realistic, but will hold up better in this scale. Could the ladder be more realistic? Probably not in this configuration, so for the price, it's a good compromise.

conclusion

I don't have a lot to say about this set. They took no time at all to build, and I can think of a half-dozen uses for them, either as war booty on a vehicle or leaning innocently against a farmhouse wall. Three cheers for Plus Model for providing modelers with all these excellent accessories that help us recreate the world in miniature.

Thanks to Plus Model for providing this review sample. Be sure to say you saw it reviewed here on Armorama when ordering.